The Florida Department of Corrections has moved forward quickly with an appeal of a circuit judge's ruling last week that blocked a plan to privatize prison health services in the central and northern parts of the state.

The 1st District Court of Appeal received the department's notice of appeal Thursday, two days after Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper ruled that the Legislative Budget Commission overstepped its authority by approving the privatization plan, according to an online court docket.

The appeal is not a surprise --- the department said it would challenge Cooper's ruling.

The prison-health privatization plan is highly controversial, with the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees and the Florida Nursing Association leading a long-running legal fight to try to block it.